HULL North MP Diana Johnson has accused the Government of failing victims of domestic violence after it was revealed that fewer than seven per cent of cases in Humberside resulted in a conviction.

Figures released by the Labour Party show that 15,020 cases of domestic violence were reported to Humberside Police last year yet only 1,043 resulted in a conviction and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decided to prosecute only 1,257 cases.

While Humberside Police has seen an 8 per cent fall in the number of domestic violence cases reported since 2010, the number of cases prosecuted has fallen by 19 per cent and the convictions rate is down 14 per cent.

At the same time, the proportion of reported rape cases in Humberside resulting in a conviction has almost halved.

Ex-serviceman and entertainer Brian Fairfield, 81, found fame when he challenged his neighbours in Hull over the right to fly his Union flag in the garden of his home in Impala Way, east Hull.

His wife Shirley, 69, kicked him and his flag out of the home they shared at Sanctuary Housing and appealed to other women to find the courage to leave violent marriages.

At the time she told the Mail: "I stood for it, but there is no need for others to do the same. At my age, I might not have much life left, but at least I am going to have one now."

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper has called for reforms to deliver a far better performance and to secure justice and safety for victims like Shirley.

Ms Cooper said: "The clock is being turned back on years of progress and things are getting worse. On Theresa May's watch, action against domestic violence in the criminal justice system is disintegrating before our eyes.

"We need reforms to deliver a far better performance and to secure justice and safety for victims.

"For a start, the Government should be publishing proper information and performance tables for the criminal justice systems so that local communities, police forces and prosecutors can see which areas are doing better than they are and how they should improve.

"Second, we need national standards in the way domestic violence and rape are pursued to tackle the big variations across the country.

"And we need a new commissioner – modelled on the children's commissioner – covering violence against women and domestic abuse, with the power to ensure standards are raised.

"And it means strengthening the law whenever it is appropriate, including psychological abuse.

"These figures reveal a national scandal and it's about time Theresa May woke up to tackle this deeply damaging crime that is increasing throughout the country."

4 comments

The term Domestic Violence is very very misleading, the term is used even when no actual violence is involved, they should probably use the term domestic incident instead. Domestic violence incidents will often be nothing more than an argument between couples, that would never result in any charges and probably only resulted in the police being called because neighbours can hear noises next door and can't get to sleep. A couple can be arguing over what to have for dinner, but if the police are called it will be classed as domestic violence, the figures are very misleading and quite frankly inaccurate. These emotionally driven figures need to be broken down much more accurately to give a truer picture of exactly what the real position is. Hyperbole and hysteria are not what's need here. More needs to be done to find out why victims don't come forward, or when they do why they retract complaints before they go to court, then return to live with violent and abusive partners. It is way too simplistic and pure politicking by Johnson, which does not help any victims.

Yet again, I would ask what Labour did over their tenure, to improve the situation. These are serious issues that need addressing, but it's strange that the blame lays with the Government, and the issue is getting raised in the precursor to the 2015 election.

The quoted figures re prosecutions and convictions, if accurate, should horrify all of us.
It may be that both Humberside Constabulary and the CPS are too reluctant to take cases to court. It may be likely that some complaints are 'try-ons', but not near-14,000! That's a ridiculous figure!
It might be a good idea for HDM to ask Mr Grove what he is doing about these bizarre statistics.